GeekAffiliate

Welcome to GeekAffiliate, my new blog about affiliate selling in particular and Internet marketing in general, tailored specifically for geeks.

Who is writing this?

My name is Eric Giguere. If you’re a software geek in the wireless or handheld development areas, you may know me as the author of a number of technical books. Or you may know me as the author of Make Easy Money with Google: Using the AdSense Advertising Program, an introductory book about Google’s AdSense program.

Or not. I’m not foolish enough to think I’m famous just because I’ve written a few books.

What is a geek?

Geeks are self-defined. If you think of yourself as a geek, you are a geek. Geekdom is not conferred. Having a computer science degree doesn’t make you a geek — I definitely had classmates who weren’t geeks.

What is affiliate selling?

Affilate selling is simply receiving a commission for selling someone else’s product. You refer a user to a site, they buy a product, you get some cash. Simple to understand. Amazon has the best-known affiliate program and is often the place where newcomers start, but it goes way beyond Amazon.

What is Internet marketing?

Internet marketing is just marketing — identifying and satisfying the needs and wants of consumers — applied to the Internet. It involves using websites, blogs, forums and email lists to entice people to buy products or services.

Many geeks have had little or no exposure to marketing except as targets of marketing endeavours. This blog will educate you about the weird world of Internet marketing.

Why should I care about affiliate selling and Internet marketing?

Because it’s another way to make money with your computer skills. I’m not saying you’re going to get rich. Like anything, it takes serious effort (and some luck) to make a fortune with affiliate marketing. But if you can get a few extra bucks coming in here and there from stuff you already like to do, why not do it?

What about AdSense?

I already have a contextual advertising blog that covers AdSense and related programs. Check it out. The focus of this blog is affiliate marketing. The two can be complementary, but they’re different.

Do we really want to go over to the Dark Side?

Not really. The point of this blog is that it’s possible to make money via Internet marketing and affiliate selling without losing your soul. Many geeks fail at selling because they try to emulate what the non-geeks are doing. But some of what they’re doing goes against the nature of the geek. Geeks should instead focus on the unique strengths and skills they have and work with those attributes instead of against them.

Where to next?

This is just the beginning. Over the coming months we’ll be covering all kinds of topics. We’ll review various products and services. We’ll figure out what works and what doesn’t. And we’ll have fun doing it!

Technorati Tags: affiliate, Eric Giguere, AdSense, selling, Internet marketing, money, affiliate programs, marketing, geek

P.S.: Bear with me as I tweak the blog template. It’s pretty vanilla right now. I’m still figuring out which WordPress plugins best suit my needs. So far I’m using SimpleTags, AdSense Deluxe and Sociable, and I’ve only made minor changes to the standard WordPress template.